6,094 new Covid cases, 37 deaths in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh
Punjab added three old deaths to its toll, while the treatment outcome in 12 cases was changed from discharged to death. Mohali reported the highest of 245 cases while 176 persons tested positive in Ludhiana, 165 in Jalandhar, 106 in Amritsar, 80 in Fazilka, 75 in Bathinda, 71 in Pathankot, 68 in Hoshiarpur, 67 each in Kapurthala and Muktsar, 62 in Ferozepur, 54 in Gurdaspur, 47 in Patiala, 46 in Faridkot, 39 in Ropar, 31 in Tarn Taran, 27 in Fatehgarh Sahib, 25 in Moga, 21 in Sangrur, 17 in Nawanshahr, 13 in Mansa and 12 Barnala.
A total of 2,32,496 beneficiaries in different categories were immunised, of which 87,131 received their first dose and 1,45,365 received the second. Also, 21,641 children in the age group of 15-17 received their first dose, while 9,009 precautionary doses were administered.
Haryana's Omicron tally reached 643 with three active cases and 640 cured patients. The state's overall tally of 9,58,841 includes 9,29,870 recoveries, 10,353 deaths, and 17,446 active cases. The day's 90,950 vaccinations included 23,351 first and 63,862 second doses, besides 3,737 booster shots. The overall vaccination figure reached 1,68,20,166, while the recovery rate is 96.98% and the fatality rate 1,08%.
Himachal Pradesh reported 1,645 recoveries for the day. Five deaths each were reported from Kangra and Mandi districts and one each from Shimla and Una. The state's overall tally of 2,74,680 includes 9,202 active cases, 2,61,459 recoveries, and 4,002 casualties.
The highly infectious Omicron (B.1.1.529) strain of Covid-19 is now the most dominating variant of concern in poll-bound Punjab, taking over Delta that had wreaked havoc on the state in the second wave of infection last year.
Immunity dodger Omicron was in 69.82% of the last five sample batches till January 30. In comparison, Delta was in only 21.30%. Alpha was the first most found variant of concern in the state before Delta replaced it in March 2021. Omicron has reached the community transmission stage.. Despite being milder than Delta, Omicron is not harmless in the eyes of experts.